diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index ef3bfa16d..23b5acff3 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -604,7 +604,7 @@
          basedir="${dist.name}/.."
          includes="${dist.name}/**"/>
     <tar longfile="gnu"
-         tarfile="${dist.base}/bin/${dist.name}-bin.tar">
+         destfile="${dist.base}/bin/${dist.name}-bin.tar">
       <tarfileset dir="${dist.name}/.." mode="755" username="ant" group="ant">
         <include name="${dist.name}/bin/ant"/>
         <include name="${dist.name}/bin/antRun"/>
@@ -634,7 +634,7 @@
          basedir="${dist.name}/.."
          includes="${dist.name}/**"/>
     <tar longfile="gnu"
-         tarfile="${dist.base}/src/${dist.name}-src.tar" >
+         destfile="${dist.base}/src/${dist.name}-src.tar" >
       <tarfileset dir="${dist.name}/.." mode="755" username="ant" group="ant">
         <include name="${dist.name}/bootstrap.sh"/>
         <include name="${dist.name}/build.sh"/>
diff --git a/docs/manual/CoreTasks/tar.html b/docs/manual/CoreTasks/tar.html
index 80b9c6164..abf0733c3 100644
--- a/docs/manual/CoreTasks/tar.html
+++ b/docs/manual/CoreTasks/tar.html
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ the limit.</p>
     <td valign="top" align="center"><b>Required</b></td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
-    <td valign="top">tarfile</td>
+    <td valign="top">destfile</td>
     <td valign="top">the tar-file to create.</td>
     <td align="center" valign="top">Yes</td>
   </tr>
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ attributes
 <p>tars all files in the <code>htdocs/manual</code> directory into a file called <code>manual.tar</code>
 in the <code>${dist}</code>  directory, then applies the gzip task to compress
 it.</p>
-<pre>  &lt;tar tarfile=&quot;${dist}/manual.tar&quot;
+<pre>  &lt;tar destfile=&quot;${dist}/manual.tar&quot;
        basedir=&quot;htdocs/manual&quot;
        excludes=&quot;mydocs/**, **/todo.html&quot;
   /&gt;</pre>
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ in the <code>${dist}</code> directory. Files in the directory <code>mydocs</code
 or files with the name <code>todo.html</code> are excluded.</p>
 
 <pre>&lt;tar longfile=&quot;gnu&quot;
-     tarfile=&quot;${dist.base}/${dist.name}-src.tar&quot; &gt;
+     destfile=&quot;${dist.base}/${dist.name}-src.tar&quot; &gt;
   &lt;tarfileset dir=&quot;${dist.name}/..&quot; mode=&quot;755&quot; username=&quot;ant&quot; group=&quot;ant&quot;&gt;
     &lt;include name=&quot;${dist.name}/bootstrap.sh&quot;/&gt;
     &lt;include name=&quot;${dist.name}/build.sh&quot;/&gt;
diff --git a/src/etc/testcases/taskdefs/tar.xml b/src/etc/testcases/taskdefs/tar.xml
index adc9ef582..ea31a9a85 100644
--- a/src/etc/testcases/taskdefs/tar.xml
+++ b/src/etc/testcases/taskdefs/tar.xml
@@ -16,19 +16,19 @@
 
   <target name="test4">
     <touch file="test4.tar"/>
-    <tar tarfile="test4.tar"
+    <tar destfile="test4.tar"
          basedir="."/>
   </target>
 
   <target name="test5">
     <mkdir dir="test5dir"/>
-    <tar tarfile="test5.tar"
+    <tar destfile="test5.tar"
          basedir="."
          includes="test5dir"/>
   </target>
 
   <target name="test6">
-    <tar tarfile="blah" longfile="Foo"/>
+    <tar destfile="blah" longfile="Foo"/>
   </target>
 
   <target name="cleanup"> 
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
   </target>
 
   <target name="feather">
-    <tar tarfile="asf-logo.gif.tar" 
+    <tar destfile="asf-logo.gif.tar"
          basedir=".."
          includes="asf-logo.gif" />
   </target>
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Tar.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Tar.java
index c9133beaf..15d35b492 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Tar.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Tar.java
@@ -129,11 +129,22 @@ public class Tar extends MatchingTask {
 
     /**
      * This is the name/location of where to create the tar file.
+     * @deprecated for consistency with other tasks, please use setDestFile()
      */
     public void setTarfile(File tarFile) {
+        //log("DEPRECATED - The tarfile attribute is deprecated. Please use the destfile attribute instead.");
         this.tarFile = tarFile;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Sets the destfile attribute.
+     * @since 1.22 ant 1.5
+     * @param destFile The output of the tar
+     */
+    public void setDestFile(File destFile) {
+       this.tarFile = destFile;
+    }
+
     /**
      * This is the base directory to look in for things to tar.
      */